While the three stood there, a sergeant6 brought Claude word that two of his men would have to report at sick-call. Corporal Tannhauser had had such an attack of nose-bleed during the night that the sergeant thought he might die before they got it stopped. Tannhauser was up now, and in the breakfast line, but the sergeant was sure he ought not to be. This Fritz Tannhauser was the tallest man in the company, a German–American boy who, when asked his name, usually said that his name was Dennis and that he was of Irish descent. Even this morning he tried to joke, and pointing to his big red face told Claude he thought he had measles7. “Only they ain’t German measles, Lieutenant8,” he insisted.
Medical inspection9 took a long while that morning. There seemed to be an outbreak of sickness on board. When Claude brought his two men up to the Doctor, he told them to go below and get into bed. As they left he turned to Claude.
“Give them hot tea, and pile army blankets on them. Make them sweat if you can.” Claude remarked that the hold wasn’t a very cheerful place for sick men.
“I know that, Lieutenant, but there are a number of sick men this morning, and the only other physician on board is the sickest of the lot. There’s the ship’s doctor, of course, but he’s only responsible for the crew, and so far he doesn’t seem interested. I’ve got to overhaul10 the hospital and the medical stores this morning.”
“Is there an epidemic11 of some sort?”
“Well, I hope not. But I’ll have plenty to do today, so I count on you to look after those two.” The doctor was a New Englander who had joined them at Hoboken. He was a brisk, trim man, with piercing eyes, clean-cut features, and grey hair just the colour of his pale face. Claude felt at once that he knew his business, and he went below to carry out instructions as well as he could.
When he came up from the hold, he saw the aviator12 — whose name, he had learned, was Victor Morse — smoking by the rail. This cabin-mate still piqued13 his curiosity.
“First time you’ve been up, isn’t it?”
The aviator was looking at the distant smoke plumes14 over the quivering, bright water. “Time enough. I wish I knew where we are heading for. It will be awfully15 awkward for me if we make a French port.”
“I thought you said you were to report in France.”
“I am. But I want to report in London first.” He continued to gaze off at the painted ships. Claude noticed that in standing he held his chin very high. His eyes, now that he was quite sober, were brilliantly young and daring; they seemed scornful of things about him. He held himself conspicuously16 apart, as if he were not among his own kind.
Claude had seen a captured crane, tied by its leg to a hencoop, behave exactly like that among Mahailey’s chickens; hold its wings to its sides, and move its head about quickly and glare.
“I suppose you have friends in London?” he asked.
“Rather!” the aviator replied with feeling.
“Do you like it better than Paris?”
“I shouldn’t imagine anything was much better than London. I’ve not been in Paris; always went home when I was on leave. They work us pretty hard. In the infantry17 and artillery18 our men get only a fortnight off in twelve months. I understand the Americans have leased the Riviera, — recuperate19 at Nice and Monte Carlo. The only Cook’s tour we had was Gallipoli,” he added grimly.
Victor had gone a good way toward acquiring an English accent, the boys thought. At least he said ‘necess’ry’ and ‘dysent’ry’ and called his suspenders ‘braces’. He offered Claude a cigarette, remarking that his cigars were in his lost trunk.
“Take one of mine. My brother sent me two boxes just before we sailed. I’ll put a box in your bunk20 next time I go down. They’re good ones.”
The young man turned and looked him over with surprise. “I say, that’s very decent of you! Yes, thank you, I will.”
Claude had tried yesterday, when he lent Victor some shirts, to make him talk about his aerial adventures, but upon that subject he was as close as a clam21. He admitted that the long red scar on his upper arm had been drilled by a sharpshooter from a German Fokker, but added hurriedly that it was of no consequence, as he had made a good landing. Now, on the strength of the cigars, Claude thought he would probe a little further. He asked whether there was anything in the lost trunk that couldn’t be replaced, anything “valuable.”
“There’s one thing that’s positively22 invaluable23; a Zeiss lens, in perfect condition. I’ve got several good photographic outfits24 from time to time, but the lenses are always cracked by heat, — the things usually come down on fire. This one I got out of a plane I brought down up at Bar-le-Duc, and there’s not a scratch on it; simply a miracle.”
“You get all the loot when you bring down a machine, do you?” Claude asked encouragingly.
“Of course. I’ve a good collection; altimeters and compasses and glasses. This lens I always carry with me, because I’m afraid to leave it anywhere.”
“I suppose it makes a fellow feel pretty fine to bring down one of those German planes.”
“Sometimes. I brought down one too many, though; it was very unpleasant.” Victor paused, frowning. But Claude’s open, credulous25 face was too much for his reserve. “I brought down a woman once. She was a plucky26 devil, flew a scouting27 machine and had bothered us a bit, going over our lines. Naturally, we didn’t know it was a woman until she came down. She was crushed underneath28 things. She lived a few hours and dictated29 a letter to her people. I went out and dropped it inside their lines. It was nasty business. I was quite knocked out. I got a fortnight’s leave in London, though. Wheeler,” he broke out suddenly, “I wish I knew we were going there now!”
“I’d like it well enough if we were.”
Victor shrugged30. “I should hope so!” He turned his chin in Claude’s direction. “See here, if you like, I’ll show you London! It’s a promise. Americans never see it, you know. They sit in a Y. hut and write to their Pollyannas, or they go round hunting for the Tower. I’ll show you a city that’s alive; that is, unless you’ve a preference for museums.”
His listener laughed. “No, I want to see life, as they say.”
“Umph! I’d like to set you down in some places I can think of. Very well, I invite you to dine with me at the Savoy, the first night we’re in London. The curtain will rise on this world for you. Nobody admitted who isn’t in evening dress. The jewels will dazzle you. Actresses, duchesses, all the handsomest women in Europe.”
“But I thought London was dark and gloomy since the war.”
Victor smiled and teased his small straw-coloured moustache with his thumb and middle finger. “There are a few bright spots left, thank you!” He began to explain to a novice31 what life at the front was really like. Nobody who had seen service talked about the war, or thought about it; it was merely a condition under which they lived. Men talked about the particular regiment32 they were jealous of, or the favoured division that was put in for all the show fighting. Everybody thought about his own game, his personal life that he managed to keep going in spite of discipline; his next leave, how to get champagne33 without paying for it, dodging34 the guard, getting into scrapes with women and getting out again. “Are you quick with your French?” he asked.
Claude grinned. “Not especially.”
“You’d better brush up on it if you want to do anything with French girls. I hear your M.P.‘s are very strict. You must be able to toss the word the minute you see a skirt, and make your date before the guard gets onto you.”
“I suppose French girls haven’t any scruples35?” Claude remarked carelessly.
Victor shrugged his narrow shoulders. “I haven’t found that girls have many, anywhere. When we Canadians were training in England, we all had our week-end wives. I believe the girls in Crystal Lake used to be more or less fussy36, — but that’s long ago and far away. You won’t have any difficulty.”
When Victor was in the middle of a tale of amorous37 adventure, a little different from any Claude had ever heard, Tod Fanning joined them. The aviator did not acknowledge the presence of a new listener, but when he had finished his story, walked away with his special swagger, his eyes fixed38 upon the distance.
Fanning looked after him with disgust. “Do you believe him? I don’t think he’s any such heart-smasher. I like his nerve, calling you ‘Leftenant’! When he speaks to me he’ll have to say Lootenant, or I’ll spoil his beauty.”
That day the men remembered long afterward39, for it was the end of the fine weather, and of those first long, carefree days at sea. In the afternoon Claude and the young Marine, the Virginian and Fanning, sat together in the sun watching the water scoop40 itself out in hollows and pile itself up in blue, rolling hills. Usher41 was telling his companions a long story about the landing of the Marines at Vera Cruz.
“It’s a great old town,” he concluded. “One thing there I’ll never forget. Some of the natives took a few of us out to the old prison that stands on a rock in the sea. We put in the whole day there, and it wasn’t any tourist show, believe me! We went down into dungeons42 underneath the water where they used to keep State prisoners, kept them buried alive for years. We saw all the old instruments of torture; rusty43 iron cages where a man couldn’t lie down or stand up, but had to sit bent44 over till he grew crooked45. It made you feel queer when you came up, to think how people had been left to rot away down there, when there was so much sun and water outside. Seems like something used to be the matter with the world.” He said no more, but Claude thought from his serious look that he believed he and his countrymen who were pouring overseas would help to change all that.
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1
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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2
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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3
prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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iridescent
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| adj.彩虹色的，闪色的 | |
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tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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6
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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7
measles
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| n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子 | |
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8
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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9
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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10
overhaul
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| v./n.大修，仔细检查 | |
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epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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12
aviator
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| n.飞行家，飞行员 | |
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13
piqued
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| v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 )；激起（好奇心） | |
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14
plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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15
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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17
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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18
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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19
recuperate
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| v.恢复 | |
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20
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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21
clam
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| n.蛤，蛤肉 | |
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22
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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23
invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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24
outfits
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| n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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25
credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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26
plucky
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| adj.勇敢的 | |
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scouting
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| 守候活动，童子军的活动 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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29
dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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30
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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31
novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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32
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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33
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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34
dodging
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| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
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35
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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36
fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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37
amorous
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| adj.多情的；有关爱情的 | |
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38
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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39
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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40
scoop
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| n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出 | |
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41
usher
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| n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员 | |
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42
dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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43
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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44
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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45
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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